A Scary Tale for Halloween can now be downloaded as a full colour pdf from https://ko-fi.com/s/7bed990427 Please take a look if you have the time many thanks.
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Part One
The year is 1988 and a distant relation (twice removed) of the great Sherlock Holmes is the hero of our tale. I present to you the not so well known Jeffrey Bungalow, last descendant of the great Bungalows of tales past e.g. Dracula against the great Sir Frederick Archibald Bungalow? No, never heard of him? Well Sir Frederick was a simple man who shunned the limelight, so instead stayed anonymous and gave all the glory to his friend, travelling companion, and personal physician. Yep you guessed it Dr Abraham Van Helsing.
Anyway I digress, back to the story at hand. Jeffrey Bungalow is of good stock, but sadly has fallen on hard times and is currently dealing with several adversities. However he is of cheery disposition and always sees the glass half full. So it was whilst he was working as a hired research assistant for an eminent firm of Solicitors in London, Cheatem, Steele and Wynn, that he came across some very interesting documents. Whilst searching the archives of the Royal Geographic Society, (trying to find a link between one of the Victorian members and a modern day relative whom may or may not be due a tidy little sum of money) he came across a small wooden casket. The casket was apparently the property of a Sir Richard Pembleton, explorer and on occasion reporter for a well know tabloid of the day. Jeffrey laid out the contents of the casket on an old desk, turned on a bright light and slowly began to read through the documents. So, cast your minds back to an earlier time, when Queen Victoria was on the throne. The Grand Tour was all the rage, NO not Jeremy Clarkson, PAY ATTENTION, I said cast your minds back. Now where was I, yes – Cast your minds back to an earlier time when Queen Victoria was on the throne. The Grand Tour was all the rage and men were explorers, finding hitherto unknown continents, meeting unknown tribes and bringing back strange plants. Visualise Psychedelic waves drawing you back to the past whooooooooooh whooooooooooooh. What? I am setting a scene here.
Well done, I didn’t think you could do it to be honest.
Once Jeffrey had inspected and read the contents he was flabbergasted, yes his flabber was truly gasted.
Come on, it’s my story I can write what I like, its literary licence don’t you know. This was what he had found:
A badly damaged and very old scroll, sadly the language evaded Jeremy, in fact if truth be told even his command of the English language left much to be desired. On leaving school his headmaster had told him that he may want to consider a life on a submarine. When Jeffrey had looked at him quizzically, the headmaster chuckled, very happy with himself, as he imparted the words “due to all your grades being below C Level”. Well this just might be Jeffrey’s chance to prove those naysayers wrong.
I just have to say at this point, I hope you are enjoying the awful puns and archaic words. It isn’t easy you know. I know, I know my choice and all that. Don’t worry about me, I’ll just carry on… unappreciated, typing my two fingers to the bone, no food or drink for at least ten minutes………. Back to the plot. So a damaged scroll, a compass (quite nice actually very shiny considering the age and all that), two very old books and an old newspaper from 1888, the most popular for the time, very well known and loved. In all probability if they had sold things at the time, you know like artwork and gifts and such, they would probably have been world leaders, if not the, number one. The PTP Times… ah what a tabloid. The books had sent shivers down Jeffrey’s spine, (did you see what I did with the tabloid bit, just carrying on, leaving it hanging there) for the books bore the inscription Frankenstein’s Diaries… dun dun dah. (Sean Bean did contact me you know, but I had to let him down gently. I said Sean lovey, it’s just my little old blog. It isn’t a Chronicle. I did offer him a cup of tea though and then he left saying he had to catch a train). Woah two Netflix references there. How many got em? Hands up. That many, well done, you all continue to impress me. Well the diaries didn’t shed too much light - all about his first words, what girl he liked in the village, how his party trick was holding a small round glass globe in his mouth and making it light up (come on readers keep up, lightning brought him to life in a storm), apparently a chemist called Humphry Davy had been at one such party and had clapped with great vigour. (See now you are thinking Humphry Davy, who is he when he is at home? You will have to look him up, I do my research you know, I have already told you it isn’t easy!), and how Victor had left him in stitches. But the PTP Times had a very informative article, front page a double headline day. Due to its age it was difficult to read. (It was Jeffreys last paid day of work for the solicitors Cheatem, Steele and Wynn and now he had a new mission. He quickly photographed each item with his mobile phone, hang on scrub that 1988 and a phone capable of taking good quality pictures. Let’s start again. He quickly photographed each item with his film camera, always in his pocket for research purposes, before replacing them). Jeffrey knew a fantastic small business. He knew they could help out with clearing up the image and text. “Yes, yes that’s right I am referring to us again. Well I am not doing this for nothing you know, it is only a very small bit of subliminal advertising {PITCHER THIS PHOTOGRAPHY}, what? I saw no branding, I have no idea what you are trying to accuse me of”. At this point, please be aware that the second headline has been taken from various real newspaper articles and may not be suitable for younger readers. Truly, it is no joke this time. The improved image was far easier to read.
As luck would have it Jeffrey knew a friend who ran a small hotel in Iceland.
He called his friend and made preparations for a journey to Iceland.
If you have liked the tale so far, please let us know if you would like to see the rest. Many Thanks.
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